Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and EU drafting papers on key gas pipeline
Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and the European Union are drafting two documents that will allow to deliver Caspian and in particular Turkmen gas to Europe, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natig Aliyev said on Wednesday.
According to him, the two resource-rich Caspian littoral states and the EU are expected to complete the preparation of a political document to support the Southern Gas Corridor of pipelines, as well as an inter-governmental agreement on trans-Caspian gas pipeline, before the end of the year.
There is no direct agreement on the implementation of the trans-Caspian gas pipeline project yet. However, in September 2011 the European Union issued a mandate to start talks to reach an agreement with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on building the conduit.
The 300-kilometer pipeline will be laid from the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan where it will be linked to the Southern Gas Corridor. Negotiations between Turkmenistan and the EU and other countries on the construction of the pipeline have been ongoing since the late 1990s.
During negotiations with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, the EU will discuss bilateral agreements outlining the legal obligations of the signatories necessary for Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan to construct and operate the trans-Caspian pipeline. Also on the agenda will be the legal framework to be applied to the issue of filling the gas pipeline from Turkmenistan, including the recognition of commercial agreements.
The Southern Gas Corridor is a priority EU energy project diversifying energy supply routes and sources and increasing EU energy security.